PAKISTAN Bad Weather, Power Cuts Dampen Annual Pilgrimage

PAKISTAN Bad Weather, Power Cuts Dampen Annual Pilgrimage
(UCAN)
Heavy rains, strong winds and recurrent power cuts inconvenienced thousands taking part in the main annual Marian pilgrimage in Pakistan. Bishop Andrew Francis leads a concelebrated Mass during the Sept. 5-7 annual pilgrimage at the National Marian Shrine in Mariamabad. Mariamabad, literally the "city of Mary," is Pakistan's most popular Marian shrine, 230 kilometres southeast of Islamabad, traditionally draws Pakistan's 1.5 million Catholics, as well as some Muslim and foreign Christian pilgrims. The event is keyed to the Sept. 8 feast of the birth of the Blessed Mother. According to Father Akram Javed, the shrine's rector, about 600,000 devotees turned up for the three-day program, nearly half the number of the previous year. Pilgrims travelled by foot, bullock carts, bicycles, buses and trucks to Mariamabad. In keeping with tradition, thousands of Muslims also took part, out of their personal devotion to Mary. Catholic bishops celebrated Mass at the grotto each day for the thousands present, while the compound of the Church of St. Mary and St. Joseph, where the shrine is located, remained jam-packed with people staying there throughout the three days. Archbishop Lawrence John Saldanha of Lahore inaugurated the festival on Sept. 5 evening, when he led a procession that followed a palanquin bearing a statue of the Blessed Mother.Mariamabad's St. Mary and St. Joseph’s Parish, established by Belgian Capuchins on Dec. 8, 1898, has about 1,500 parishioners.